Kevin Iole

Three fighters have had a stranglehold on the title of the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.

Heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko wore the mythical crown first, until he was dethroned in the eyes of many by ex-UFC champion Anderson Silva.

Though there remains a strong case for Silva, many believe that Jon Jones, whom the UFC stripped of its light heavyweight title earlier this year following an automobile accident, has surpassed him.

It just might be time, however, to add another name into that conversation:

Ronda Rousey.

Before you scream, let’s be honest: If there were a male UFC champion who was 12-0 and had won his last three fights in 16, 14 and 34 seconds, that man would almost by acclamation be proclaimed the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world as well as the greatest who ever lived.

Rousey, though, hasn’t heard such talk, even though with each time out, it’s becoming increasingly clear she deserves it.

The way she’s going, though, she’d probably be favored in a match against a hungry grizzly bear.

The only argument against Rousey’s greatness is the lack of other elite talent in her division.

Ronda Rousey is quickly becoming one of the most iconic athletes in sports. On a night when many of the biggest superstars from sports and entertainment, including NBA stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, NFL star Aaron Rodgers, and actors Sylvester Stallone and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson were tweeting to her to wish her luck, she rose to the occasion yet again.

She needed only 34 seconds this time to retain her women's bantamweight title over Bethe Correia, but this wasn't the same old Rousey.

Her striking, which some said was her weakness, led her to the one-sided victory in the main event of UFC 190 at HSBC Arena Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rousey's striking overwhelmed Correia, whose striking had led her to a 9-0 mark entering the bout. But Rousey ripped Correia with clean, hard shots and finished it with a right to the temple. Correia fell on her face as referee John McCarthy quickly stopped it.

It was four seconds longer than the combined time of her two previous wins -- 16 seconds over Alexis Davis at UFC 175 and 14 seconds over Cat Zingano at UFC 184 -- but in the manner of finish, it was probably her most impressive.

No matter how good Ronda Rousey looks on Saturday in dismantling unbeaten challenger Bethe Correia at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro – and yes, the women's bantamweight champion will unquestionably dismantle her Brazilian rival – it's not going to be enough to silence her most ardent critics.

This is a case where Rousey is helpless.

Unless she faces, and defeats, Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino, there will always be an asterisk next to Rousey's record.

Rousey is so far ahead of the rest of the field, it's become something of a joke. The debate before her fights has become how quickly she'll end it, not whether she'll win.

Justino is the only fighter who can reasonably expect to have a chance against Rousey.

And so, as Rousey steamrolls her way through the division and into the MMA history books, the specter of Justino will always loom over her.

The greatest superstars need rivals to push them, to help them show their greatness. Nicklaus had Palmer. Johnson had Bird. And Ali had Frazier.

However, there is no one in the women's bantamweight remotely close to Rousey's equal.

White said he believes it would do record-setting pay-per-view numbers.

The legend grows seemingly by the minute, but it perhaps began in the very spot where she'll defend her championship Saturday against outspoken, and unbeaten, challenger Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC 190.

Rousey was 20 when she competed in the 2007 Judo World Championships in Rio de Janeiro. She'd only recently moved up to the 70-kilogram (154-pound) division, where in the semifinals she was set to meet Edith Bosch.

Bosch is 6 feet tall, and at the time of the match with Rousey had won a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and followed that with a gold at the 2005 World Championships in Cairo.

Bosch threw Rousey early in the bout using a judo technique known as a waki-gatame, which is illegal. And sure enough, Rousey dislocated her left elbow upon landing.

Wren has written a book on his experience with the Pygmies, "Fight for the Forgotten: How a Mixed Martial Artist Stopped Fighting for Himself and Started Fighting for Others." The book, co-authored by veteran MMA journalist Loretta Hunt, will be released on Sept. 15.

He will be fighting for the first time since July 17, 2010, when he submitted Josh Robertson in Biloxi, Miss.

He is eager to get back in the cage, particularly since it's for such a good cause.

Paulie Malignaggi has never been much of a puncher, not even on his best day. He won world titles in two weight classes largely on the strength of his legs and an uncanny ability to box.

He’d move, make an opponent miss and then fire a quick combination before darting away again.

At his best, he was all but impossible to hit cleanly.

He’s 35 now, loser of two of his last three, and admits the legs aren’t exactly what they once were. He’s coming off a one-sided beatdown at the hands of Shawn Porter that left many wondering whether he should make broadcasting a full-time gig.

On Saturday, he’ll face unbeaten Danny Garcia in a 12-round welterweight bout at the Barclays Center in the New York borough of Brooklyn in a bout broadcast on ESPN. And though few others are believers any longer, Malignaggi insists he’s far from through.

It sounds familiar.

Malignaggi was bulldozed by Porter in what had been shaping up as a fascinating bout on Showtime on April 19, 2014. Porter simply overpowered Malignaggi physically, began catching him with hard, flush shots, and stopped him in the fourth round.

It was a loss, and a bad one, and it put Stefan Struve on the edge. Back-to-back knockout losses aren’t a way of making it to the top in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Much was in play after Struve was stopped by Alistair Overeem at 4:13 of the first round on Dec. 13 in Phoenix. Most notably, Struve had to worry about his job security.

But Struve was surprisingly calm after the defeat and, in a very significant way, regarded the bout as a win.

Just competing in the bout was a massive win for the 7-foot Struve, known primarily to this point for being the tallest fighter in UFC history.

Struve aspires for much more than that, however. He believes deep within his soul that he’s going to one day win the UFC heavyweight title. It’s a long journey from back-to-back losses to the world championship, but every long journey starts with one step.

And for Struve, that step was actually being able to compete in the fight.

A few months after his loss to Mark Hunt in 2013, Struve was diagnosed with a leaking aortic valve in his heart. He was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, which appears in less than 2 percent of the population but is far more common in males than in females.

The World Series of Fighting on Wednesday will name 50-year-old digital media executive Carlos Silva as its new chief executive officer.

Silva has an extensive background in digital media and sports television and said he hopes to use all available platforms to make the World Series a bigger player in the MMA space.

It already has a television deal with NBC and NBC Sports Network, but is generally regarded as the No. 3 promotion in the U.S. behind the UFC and Bellator.

Silva isn't necessarily looking to take down either of the two MMA giants, though matchmaker Ali Abdel-Aziz insists he's going to seek out the best talent on the market. Abdel-Aziz told Yahoo Sports he plans to make a competitive offer to free agent heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, who recently announced his intention to come out of retirement.

Silva's goal is to overhaul the World Series' website that will not only have comprehensive information about it, its fighters and events, but also about all of MMA.

Live sports events are the lifeblood of TV networks, Silva said, and the WSOF wants to support that with a rich website that will become a destination for fans.

The world loves a winner and Danny Garcia is, without question, a winner.

He’s 30-0 with 17 knockouts and, at 27, is entering the prime of his career.

Garcia, though, has taken a disproportionate amount of abuse on social media for a guy with his résumé. Nine of his past 10 opponents were or had been world champions.

Paulie Malignaggi, his opponent on Saturday in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions series card on ESPN, will make that 10 of 11.

Garcia, though, can’t find much love among the fan base these days. He’s been ripped for being on the winning side of close decisions in fights with Mauricio Herrera and Lamont Peterson, for not fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. and for taking on the unheralded Rod Salka.

Garcia is puzzled by it, but he’s as low key as his father and trainer, Angel, is outspoken.

“In the sport of boxing, you’re going to have your critics no matter what you do, so you might as well ignore them and focus on training hard and fighting to win,” Garcia said. “I think I’ve proven what I can do. I go out and fight hard and win. And I do win.

It’s laughable that some still point to a lack of competition as a reason for her success.

And besides, if she were facing inferior opposition, she’s doing what she should do: Winning in dominant fashion and not allowing the opponent a sliver of a chance.

This is how insanely dominant Rousey has become: If Bethe Correia survives the first minute of their bout for the women’s bantamweight title Saturday in the main event of UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro, there will be disappointment. If Correia lasts the first round, there will be surprise.

An unbeaten and seemingly invincible Mike Tyson lost as a 42-1 favorite to James “Buster” Douglas in a 1990 heavyweight championship boxing match. Bookmakers didn’t learn, and in 1996, Tyson lost as a 25-1 favorite to Evander Holyfield.

After being burned by those odds, bookmakers took heed. No longer do they ever make a fighter such a massive favorite.

Tyson bounced back from his loss to Douglas to become bigger than ever.